Japan-based Mitsubishi Corporation has planned to invest in a 600 megawatts (MW) onshore wind farm project in Laos, media reports stated. The wind farm will be the largest in Southeast Asia and will supply electricity to Vietnam. Commercial operation of the wind farms is expected to begin by 2023.
Mitsubishi has reached an agreement with Impact Energy Asia Development, the developer of the project, to invest in an intermediate holding company and a group company of Thailand-based Impact Electrons Siam. The firm is acting through Diamond Generating Asia, its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary. The wind farm development is a product of a memorandum of understanding on power interchange between the governments of Vietnam and Laos that was signed in 2016.
The wind farms will be located in Sekong and Attapeu provinces in southern Laos. With the help of a dedicated power transmission line, the electricity produced at the wind farms will be distributed to Vietnam Electricity, Vietnam’s state-owned enterprise.
To support its growing economy, Vietnam is in need of additional power supplies. Coal and hydro-power account for 40 percent of Vietnam’s energy resources. During dry seasons, even the hydroelectric power plants decline. The power availability severely affects the power supply in the country and leads to shortages.
Thus the wind farm project in Laos is expected to help stabilise the power system of Vietnam and give a greener energy mix. The country also has plans for other renewable energy projects like solar power generation in other parts of the country.